1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a subscription television system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for sorting and searching program guides based on the viewer's favorite programs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the subscription television industry has grown, providers of subscription television continually offer more and more channels to the individual subscriber. Typical systems offer more than 100 different channels. Such systems also typically display a channel or program guide, which identifies all available channels, the programs currently airing on each channel and upcoming programs.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,578, U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,121 (the '121 patent), U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,066, all of which are herein incorporated by reference, disclose typical channel guides. As shown, for example, in FIG. 1 of the '121 patent, the channel guide comprises a plurality of channel identifiers and a listing of the shows and programs upcoming on each channel. The channel guide illustrated in FIG. 1 is sorted (i.e., arranged or ordered) by channel number (i.e., program source).
Such known systems for generating channel guides allow the viewer to sort the guide on the basis of predefined categories or themes, such as, movies, sports, news, etc., or by a user defined favorite channel list. Sorting the channel guide by themes allows the viewer to display a subset schedule of the entire channel guide, which contains only programs in the selected category. The user defined favorite channel list allows the user to specify favorite channels and then define the order in which those channels will be displayed in the channel guide.
Notwithstanding the foregoing methods of sorting and displaying the channel guide, the necessity to scan over a significant number of channels, typically in excess of 100, in an effort to determine whether a specific television program is airing currently, or sometime in the near future, remains a significant problem. For example, assuming the viewer desires to watch an episode of Star Trek.TM., current systems do not provide a simple means for the user to determine the next time the program will be broadcast or aired. Indeed, at any given time, Star Trek.TM. could be airing on any of a number of channels. As such, the viewer would be forced to scan the entire guide and review programs currently airing, as well as future events for all channels, to determine all scheduled broadcasts of the desired program. With the plethora of channels provided by most systems, this searching can require a considerable amount of time.
Accordingly, there exists a need for displaying and sorting a channel guide which allows the viewer to readily determine and identify when a desired program will be broadcast without the viewer having to perform an extensive search on the entire channel guide for current and future events.